There are huge variations in how much private dentists charge for check-ups, research has found.

Surprisingly, a clinic in London came out as the cheapest place at £15, while the priciest was an establishment in Bristol where it costs up to £125 for a quick once-over.

The survey, conducted by private healthcare search engine WhatClinic.com, compared private dental clinics in 20 of the UK's largest towns and cities and found Birmingham offers the lowest-priced dental check-ups on average (£23) while Bournemouth was the highest at £47.

The average price of a check-up overall was £36.

When looking at other treatments, the cheapest place for teeth whitening was Liverpool (£205), while Glasgow offers the best-priced root canals (£158) and Birmingham provides the cheapest veneers (£333).

At the other end of the scale, it found one London clinic charges £875 for teeth whitening, Reading has the most expensive root canals (£325) and Bournemouth offers the priciest veneers (£574).

Emily Ross, director of WhatClinic.com, said: "If some of these prices are hard to swallow, the positives to take away from this research are the potentially huge savings to be made by shopping around.

"If the whole family has dental regular check-ups every six months, as recommended, then the accumulated costs over time could be quite significant. It's well worth comparing prices in your local area, as the cost of dental treatments can also vary quite dramatically between dental clinics in the same city or town."